


Somewhere

by artsakira



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bodyswap, M/M, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:02:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28118145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artsakira/pseuds/artsakira
Summary: “Oh. Hello.” Ed couldn’t describe how bizarre it was to hear his own voice over the telephone static.“Oh shit! You’re the guy-I mean, you swapped with me, right?”Bodyswap AU.
Relationships: Edward Elric/Roy Mustang
Comments: 3
Kudos: 118
Collections: Roy/Ed Week 2020





	Somewhere

**Author's Note:**

> Not very happy with this but I'm gonna post it anyway bc I wanna keep up with all the prompts haha. It's definitely on the shorter side, but I made art on my Tumblr @artsakira to make up for it ^^

Ed shifted over in bed. He was only half-conscious but god he felt exhausted. He wasn’t ready to wake up just yet. He laid still for a few more moments before sighing. He knew it was useless trying to go back to sleep. As he shifted again, he noticed something felt off. He didn’t feel any pain where his ports were. His eyes shot open and he sat up.

“Holy shit,” he whispered, voice sounding foreign and deep. He looked at his hands. Two flesh ones. He had swapped.

“Ah, holy shit!” he yelled again and slipped his legs out of the bed. Two flesh ones. Who the fuck was he right now? He looked around the room quickly. It was pretty sparse. The bedside table had some empty bottles on it. The cabinets had some drawers open with clothes hanging out. Not the neatest guy. There were no notes or anything explaining anything. He clutched a hand to his chest. His heart was racing. What the fuck? He didn’t feel ready for this to happen. Well, no one really ever was ready, no one ever knew exactly when their swap would happen, but this was a little soon, wasn’t it? Ed was only nineteen. No one he knew had swapped yet. Most people didn’t until later. Ed shakily stood up while holding onto the bedside for support. He looked awkward as fuck trying to navigate his new limbs. It’s not that Ed’s own legs were  _ short  _ per se, he had normal-sized legs, this guy was just more...gangly. Yeah. His hair was also short. Ed looked around for a bathroom, but he jumped when he heard a phone ring. Did anyone else live here?

“Uh..hello?” he yelled down the hallway.

“Hello?” he yelled again. No answer. The phone continued to ring, so he tried to locate where it was coming from. This guy’s house was pretty nice. As he was going down the staircase slowly, the ringing stopped. Ed picked up his pace but jumped again when he heard some honking outside. Cars. There were lots of cars. He was in the city then. The ringing started again and Ed finally spotted the phone. 

“Uh, hello?” Ed asked nervously. He hoped whoever this was could help him and wasn't just some telemarketer. 

“Oh. Hello.” Ed couldn’t describe how bizarre it was to hear his own voice over the telephone static.

“Oh shit! You’re the guy-I mean, you swapped with me, right?” Ed stumbled. He hadn’t thought about this moment a lot. For a long time, he was certain that he’d swap with Winry. But then she met Paninya and...yeah, Ed couldn’t compete with her. After that, he never thought about it much. He didn’t daydream about exciting romances. Some swaps didn’t even like each other. Science couldn’t explain why they happened when they did. So, Ed didn’t really believe in soul mates. 

“My name is Roy Mustang. Right now you’re in North City. I’m 24. I work for the government,” he explained in Ed’s voice. It was still too weird. Ed looked around and saw more bottles.

“Dude, you need to clean your house,” he said without thinking. His mind started rushing in panic. Probably not the best thing he could have said.

“I-I’m sorry, I really, I...I’m usually more well-spoken than this. I just, I wasn’t expecting this to happen.” He sounded nervous. Ed would have to stop being a dick and scaring the guy off.

“Nah, it’s fine. I’m Edward. Oh, wait! Have you talked to Alphonse already?” Ed asked. Al was a light sleeper, so he wouldn’t be surprised.

“Yes. He explained to me some things. You live in Resembool which is far away from North City, but you study in Central?” he asked. Ed nodded like an idiot before he realized Roy couldn’t see him.

“Yeah. I’m studying science. Chemistry. I’m in my second year,” Ed trailed off. He really didn’t know what to say.

“I almost majored in biology or chemistry actually. That was before I realized I was no good cooped up in a lab all day. I don’t have the concentration for that,” he laughed a little. That was comforting. They had something in common that they like. 

“I’m also sorry that I didn’t leave any information for you. That must have been confusing. I...I guess I wasn’t expecting a swap to happen. But it did,” he sounded happy. 

“I’m just lucky I’ve got Al to explain everything for me,” Ed admitted. He looked down at the ground. Two feet. He shifted his weight from side to side. He could feel the sensations. 

“I’m so shit with words,” was all he could say. Thankfully, Roy laughed at that. 

“That’s fine. When you’re back in Central it’ll be easier for me to take a train from North City. You can talk my head off about chemistry if you want and I’ll try to follow,” he offered. 

“If you talk about, what, government stuff? I definitely won’t follow sorry,” Ed laughed, gaining some spirit again.   
“It’s simpler than you’d imagine. Too much paperwork,” Roy responded. 

“Hey, I’m, uh, I’m sorry you gotta deal with my metal limbs for a day. That’s a whole fucking story and shit. I’ll explain it to you another time when I don’t have to listen to my own voice respond to me,” Ed rambled again, waving a hand around. He felt his stomach drop uncomfortably. 

“Don’t worry about that. You can’t help it,” Roy comforted while static cut off his voice a bit. But Roy would know. He would have to live with the aches and pains for a day. He will think about that every time he’ll look at Ed. Creaky metal and grease stains. Ed wasn’t a whole person. How does Roy feel about that? The silence was growing, but Ed genuinely had no idea what to say. 

“Haha yeah I…” Ed was searching for words, but the silence kept growing.

“Can I be honest for a moment?” Roy asked for a moment. It was Ed’s voice, though. It sounded like his own fucking thoughts.  _ Be honest for a moment _ .

“Of course, shoot,” Ed’s voice shook a little. He was preparing for the worst. The ‘sorry, I just can’t do this.’ 

“It’s ok if you’re nervous. I’m trying to pretend to be confident and smooth over here, but I’m just as nervous as you. Maybe more,” he confessed. Ed’s eyebrows furrowed. 

“I’m...I am 24. Everyone I know has swapped already. For a while, I thought it just wouldn’t happen to me. So I feel incredibly grateful right now to meet you.” Ed was still speechless, but it was different. It was that he had so many words in his head that he felt overwhelmed. 

“Twenty four isn’t so bad. I’ve read in some papers that some people don’t swap until they’re fucking forty or fifty. There isn’t really a science to it,” Ed said with a little disdain.

“What I’ve learned is that there’s no use to analyzing this with science. Some people swap very young and some very old. And when it happens for each person seems random too. It’s not when they’re ready to meet the other person because sometimes people who swap hate each other. And then some people don’t ever swap at all. I thought that I’d fall under this category,” Roy rambled.

“That’s fatalistic for someone who isn’t even middle-aged,” Ed retorted.

“I guess,” Roy responded. Ed heard a sigh over the phone.

“But you seem like a bright and interesting individual. If you’d give me the honor, I’d truly like to meet you,” Roy said. Ed laughed and nodded again.

“I mean, you make it sound so stupid when you talk like that, but sure, I guess,” he continued laughing. 

“Your brother is indicating that I need to hang up now. I think he wants to introduce me to your parents,” Roy said. He distantly heard Alphonse yelling in the background. He wished his brother were here with him right now, but he’s happy he got to meet Roy.

“I don’t think you’re ready to meet the woman who raised me, but I’ll leave you the number to a friend of mine and she can talk to you. Her name is Riza Hawkeye, she’s a good friend of mine,” Roy said before having Ed write down the phone number.

“Thanks for not being a creep. You’re okay. Clean your home, though,” Ed bid. 

“Ha. Keep your expectations low,” Roy said dryly. Ed laughed again. Mostly because he was so nervous the whole time, but Roy was kinda funny. 

“Bye,” Ed said, uncertain if he should hang up yet.

“Goodbye,” Roy said and the line went flat. Ed stared at the phone. He wasn’t sure if he was expecting it to ring again, but he let it be. He hadn’t even look in a fucking mirror yet. He searched around the place until he found the bathroom. He went to automatically flick the lights on but was met with a button. He pressed it and stared at the mirror from a distance. He couldn’t see his face yet. Ed wasn’t judgemental about looks - just look at his own fucked up body - but he felt nervous for some reason. He took a few tentative steps. He saw Roy’s face. 

“Shit,” he whispered. He lifted a hand to touch his cheek. Then his eyebrows. Then his nose. Roy wasn’t bad looking. Ed would give him that. High cheekbones. Dark hair and dark eyes. Ed thought his type was a blonde, not because of Winry or anything, but he changed his mind in that instant. He’d have to tell Roy that. He felt oddly excited to speak to that man again. Ed wasn’t a romantic, fuck that, but Ed could suspend his disbelief just a little bit for Roy’s sake. With that, he felt a little bit more at peace. 


End file.
